When NASA’s Pathfinder mission landed on Mars in 1997, public interest soared. The space agency was nearly overwhelmed by phone calls and emails from citizens who wanted to know what […]
NASA
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Mars, Meteorites & Asteroids, Microbiology & Virology, Status Report
NASA JSC Background Information on PNAS Mars Meteorite ALH84001 Magnetite Paper
Researchers have found small particles of a magnetic mineral called magnetite in a Martian meteorite that could only have been produced by bacteria.
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Meteorites & Asteroids, Microbiology & Virology, Panspermia
4 Years Later … The Case For Life On Mars Withstands Criticism, Gains Support
The editors of Precambrian Research and the team that startled the scientific world in August 1996 with evidence they had found in a Martian meteorite indicating that life once existed […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Mars, Meteorites & Asteroids, Press Release
New Evidence Strengthens Claims of Ancient Life on Mars – Study of Martian Meteorite Reveals Magentic Fossils
Researchers have found magnetic material in a 4.5-billion-year-old Martian meteorite that could only have been produced by bacteria. This new data strongly supports the primitive life on Mars hypothesis of […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Interstellar, Origin & Evolution of Life, People Of Astrobiology, Press Release
Scientists find clues that the path leading to the origin of life begins in deep space
Duplicating the harsh conditions of cold interstellar space in the laboratory, scientists from The Astrochemistry Laboratory at NASA’s Ames Research Center and the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at The […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mars, Meteorites & Asteroids, Microbiology & Virology, Press Release
New Report Offers Evidence of Primitive Life on Mars
A new scientific report offers compelling evidence that primitive life existed on Mars. Tiny magnetite crystals, identical to those used by aqueous bacteria on Earth as compasses to find food […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release
Earth Life Appeared on Land 1.5 billion Years Earlier Than Previously Thought
Evidence of life on Earth has been found as far back as 3.8 billion years. Given that the intense bombardment that accompanied the birth of the solar system only subsided […]
Posted inAstrobiology (general), Mars, NASA Astrobiology Program, People Of Astrobiology, Press Release
NASA Astrobiology Architect, Dr. Gerald Soffen, Dies
NASA Scientist Dr. Gerald Soffen, who led the Viking science team that performed the first experiments on the surface of the planet Mars and a guiding force in NASA’s effort […]
Posted inAstrobiology (general), Astrogeology, Mars, Missions & Hardware, Sample Return
A Year of Mars News: It was the worst of times; it was the best of times.
Mars Disappoints A little over a year ago NASA was poised on the cusp of a new phase in its exploration of Mars. A new sophisticated orbiter was ready to […]
Posted inBiogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Europa, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
More Evidence of an Ice Covered Ocean on Europa
NASA researchers have the strongest evidence yet that one of Jupiter’s most mysterious moons hides a fermenting ocean of water underneath its icy coat. This evidence comes from magnetic readings […]